TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



17B 



of this property, including another large slice beyond 

 St. James, was offered as it stood — mill, stock and 

 everything on the estate — for £9,000. 



Before concluding this part of my sketch I must 

 not forget to include a delightful addition to the 

 town by the erection of comfortable substantial 

 houses on the old lands known as " Shine's Pasture/' 

 formerly used as a grazing land for decrepit mules 

 and half-starved cows, and part of which was 

 occasionally rented to circus proprietors. It is now 

 one of the nicest parts of Port-of-Spain and when 

 the trees and ornamental shrubs at present being 

 planted in Victoria Square have grown they will 

 render it an ideal residence and the square will, in a 

 few years, be the finest in the town. It can, and I 

 hope will be made a model to be imitated by the 

 squares to which I have alluded in Chapter VII. 



A sketch of the improvements in Port-of-Spain 

 would not be complete without referring to the great 

 advance made in the appearance of the stores and 

 shops both in and outside ; the dry goods stores, of 

 course, attract the most attention. This, in a large 

 measure, is due not only to the better taste of the 

 proprietors by adopting European methods, but also 

 the assistants being so largely augmented by girls 

 who by their courtesy to, and patience with, their 

 customers have set an example — much appreciated — 

 to their male associates tending not only to improve 

 them but also this large branch of business. In my 

 early days there were only two really decent and clean 

 looking grocery and provision establishments in the 



